Chapter 493

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

The FBO at H City Airport lacked the clamor and noise of a regular terminal.

It was as quiet as an aquarium sealed off from all noise by glass; even the sound of suitcase wheels rolling over the marble floor seemed cautious.

Lin En stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the Bombardier Challenger 300 drawing ever closer in the sky.

The price of this plane could probably buy him three apartments in H City, yet as he looked at it, his heart remained utterly calm.

He had long since been disenchanted with the Lei Family's wealth.

In fact, he had been disenchanted with many things.

But today was different.

Today he had specifically asked Lei Ou to prepare a proper set of clothes for him.

A deep blue knit sweater, sharply tailored black trousers, a pair of Derby shoes polished to a mirror shine.

He had even combed his hair; though still a bit messy, at least he no longer looked like a vagrant who had crawled out of a rubbish heap.

When Lei Ou saw him like this, he visibly froze for a moment:

"How come you've suddenly seen the light today, our Lin Dazhuang."

Lin En ignored him.

He couldn't explain why he had this impulse either.

When he woke up this morning, that long-lost sensation of being alive had been pulsing in his blood vessels all along.

Not the half-dead, muddled "alive" of the past few months in H City, but a bright feeling that life suddenly had hope.

While waiting for the plane, his heart beat faster than usual.

"You haven't even met my sister yet, and you're already looking like this,"

Lei Ou leaned back on the lounge sofa, legs crossed, swirling an iced Americano in his hand, his gaze like a searchlight interrogating a prisoner.

"What, have you met somewhere else before?"

Lin En did not answer this question, because he couldn't explain it either.

He only knew that when Lei Ou spoke the name "Lei Na" yesterday, something in his mind seemed to suddenly open up.

It wasn't a recovery of memory, more like an organ long dormant suddenly coming back to life.

That feeling was as if you always thought what your life lacked was a puzzle piece, and you searched for a long, long time, so long you had already given up searching.

Then one day, that puzzle piece appeared in your palm all on its own.

"You nervous?" Lei Ou asked.

"No."

"Your palm is sweating."

"The weather's hot."

"The AC is set to sixteen degrees."

Lin En stopped quibbling, merely shifting his gaze from the plane to the distant horizon outside the window.

Lei Ou didn't press further.

He knew his brother's temperament; if Lin En didn't want to speak, prying his mouth open wouldn't get an answer.

But Lei Ou was happy in his heart.

This was the first time in three months he had seen light in Lin En's eyes, even if that light's source was something Lin En himself couldn't explain.

The sound of the plane's engines came from afar. The Bombardier Challenger 300 touched down smoothly on the runway.

The plane decelerated and taxied, coming to a steady stop at the FBO's dedicated parking stand.

The hatch's hydraulic system hummed as it opened to one side.

Lin En's breath hitched for a beat.

He didn't know why he held his breath.

He simply felt, in that instant, an indescribable sense of familiarity rising from the depths of his soul.

The airstair lowered.

A woman walked out of the cabin.

She wore a black knee-length trench coat, its hem lifting gently in the afternoon wind.

Sunglasses and her fine hair covered most of her face, revealing only a cold, sharp jawline and pale lip color.

Purple long hair draped over her shoulders; that purple was not the garish purple mixed by hair dye, but a near-natural deep purple, like some rare mineral refracting light.

Lin En stared at her unblinkingly.

He wasn't looking at her appearance, though he admitted that even without a clear view of her face, her figure alone could make every fashion magazine editor in H City kneel and beg her to shoot a cover.

He looked at her as if watching a shadow rising from the deep sea.

He didn't know why he had this feeling, but the other party's every step, every subtle movement, made him feel an incomparable familiarity.

It was as if he knew her.

It was as if he had already known her for a very, very long time.

Lei Ou had clearly noticed Lin En's state.

He looked at Lin En with a "brother, you're beyond saving" expression, lowered his voice and teased:

"You're just staring at people like that? Sigh, I'm not trying to rain on your parade, brother..."

He took a sip of coffee, cleared his throat, and struck the pose of a storyteller:

"Although you're not bad, compared to my cousin you're worlds apart.

My cousin is a prodigy who entered the Young Talent Class at USTC at sixteen, transferred to MIT at nineteen, and earned her doctorate at twenty-five; she holds two international patents and is the youngest director of the clan fund.

To be honest, if you can win her over, I'm willing to give you my Pagani as a congratulatory gift."

He shook his head, as if pitying Lin En's destined tragic end in advance.

"Of course, that's impossible."

Lin En did not reply.

Because just as Lei Ou was saying these words, the purple-haired woman walking down the gangway stopped her footsteps.

She stood at the very bottom of the gangway, and behind her sunglasses her gaze swept past Lei Ou, swept past the empty helipad, swept past the warm afternoon air, and landed precisely on Lin En's face.

She was stunned too.

This stunned was not the ordinary sizing-up of "seeing a stranger," but as if something had gently bumped her chest.

Her body stiffened, and she even forgot to keep walking down.

Afterwards she took off her sunglasses, revealing a pair of beautiful purple-black eyes.

Those eyes looked at Lin En, inside surging some indescribable emotion.

Confusion, hesitation, and a little bit of, as if coming from very far away, sadness.

She took the initiative to walk toward Lin En.

"Hello, may I ask..." Her voice was clear and cold, carrying a slight trembling.

"Have we met before?"